By Austin Ogwuda
Senator Ede Dafinone representing Delta Central in the Red Chambers has rejected, in totality, the judgment of the National Assembly Petition Tribunal sitting at Asaba which ordered INEC to conduct a rerun election in 23 units in four local government areas of the State.
Justice W. I. Kpochi-led Tribunal gave the order for the rerun while delivering judgment in a petition numbered EPT/DT/Sen/2023 filed by the senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ighoyota Amori on Tuesday.
But Senator Dafinone of the All Progressive Party APC in reaction to the judgment issued a press statement, which was obtained by The Town Hall Media, vowing to defend the mandate to logical conclusion.
The statement reads:
“The National Assembly Petition Tribunal sitting at Asaba today (Tuesday) nullified my return as the winner of the Delta Central Senatorial Election of 25 February 2023 and ordered a supplementary election within 90 days in only 23 polling units, out of the 2,180 units in the district.
“While I respect the ruling of the tribunal, I do not accept its decision. I have therefore directed my legal team to appeal the judgement immediately.
“Like we promised during our campaign to defend our votes, we shall fulfill our promise by defending the mandate which the people of Delta Central freely gave to us.
“It is instructive to note that despite the cancellation of the affected units, we are still having an insurmountable lead over our closet opponent.
“As a consequence, we are not perturbed by today’s momentary setback which we shall surely overcome.
“We, therefore, urge our party faithful, supporters, and the great people of Delta Central to remain calm and steadfast, because this also shall end in Praise”, he stated confidently.